Blood Blossoms
by TheRandomPhangirl
Summary: One-shot. Danny was hoping to get more sleep, but it seems it just wasn't meant to be. So he goes downstairs and gets a major shock at what was delivered in the "mail."
1. Chapter 1

* _Beep Beep Beep_ *

The sound found it's way into the youngest Fenton's dreams, and soon dragged him out with them. Danny groaned with exhaustion as he was forced awake. He sat up and glared at the criminal. It was his alarm, and it said 6:30 AM. He smashed his fist down upon the offender before rolling over, trying to get a bit more rest. It went off five minutes later. Without a thought, Danny shot a small ectoblast at the clock, smashing it to pieces, causing it to be snoozed forever. And that was just how long Danny wanted to sleep. Dodging missiles at three A.M. could do that to a person. Alas, Danny found that trying to get any more sleep would be a waste. After a year of being awoken in the middle of the night then having to be awake enough to not fly like a drunk had made the boy a light sleeper.

And so he grabbed a towel, a shirt, and a pair of jeans, meanwhile scolding himself on not turning his alarm off the previous night. Surprisingly it was the first time he'd forgotten to shut it off, sleeping in on the weekends was usually the most important thing to him on Friday evenings. Although just managing to make it to his bed before passing out had been his top priority the night before. Danny drifted between his thoughts and reality as he closed the bathroom door with a sigh of relief. He was in the one place he had privacy. Especially from the common intruder that was Jazz. His thoughts took over again as Danny turned the knob over the bathtub all the way to the left and pulled the small silver valve up from it. Danny shed his PJs with a small burst of intangibility, not enough to register on the house's security system, of course. He stepped into the scolding hot water that rained from the shower head and uttered another sigh of relief as the droplets seemingly washed away all of his worries.

Danny only got out of the shower when the water turned to ice and he was left shivering from the cold drops that had pelted him. Though, luckily, the water did not actually turn to ice. Danny could have made it do so in an instant, though, if he really wanted to. Despite his cold core, Danny still shivered. When his feet found the bath rug he looked around for a moment. The mirror was foggy, and the air was heavy with humidity. The navy blue and white shower curtain was dripping onto the floor a bit, despite the plastic on the inside that was supposed to protect the delicate embroidery. Danny had picked the curtain, obviously. The white stars and the blue background mimicked the sky in a cartoonish kinda way. Stars were many colors, not just white, after all.

Danny got dressed and tiptoed down the stairs, making sure to avoid the second one from the bottom. It only ever creaked when he stepped on it, as though it knew his secrets. Danny made it to the living room quiet as a dormouse until he heard faint humming coming from the kitchen. He cautiously made his way to the threshold, wary of whoever was in the kitchen. It was very unlikely that any of the other Fentons were up at this time. All of them, even Jazz, liked to sleep in on the weekend. And yet Danny was proved wrong when he saw his mom, Maddie, standing at the kitchen counter, fiddling with something he couldn't see. Then she heard his steps and turned to look at him. Danny almost had a heart attack.

"Danny! Why are you up so early?" Maddie asked without moving from in front of the counter. Danny could already feel pain ebbing in his chest, wanting to spread.

"I, uh, couldn't sleep. What is that you've got there?" Danny rubbed his chest, right over his ever-present heart and the small stone that was currently his core, and where the pain was coming from.

"Oh, these?" She gestured to the counter. "A nice old mail-man delivered these a few minutes ago. I asked why he was here so early, and he just said that they were high priority delivery." She shrugged turned back to the blasted, Danny wished, flowers. "They are quite beautiful. But the purple stems are a bit odd. ANd with their red color, I'm curious if they're a kind of rose." She picked up one of the blossoms. How could he get them from her without touching them? "Although it doesn't look like there were any thorns. What do you think?" Maybe he could grab a pair of oven mitts? "Danny?" She was looking at him again.

"Uh, yeah?" He straightened his back to seem like he had been paying attention and rubbed at his chest harder.

"What do you think?" In three large steps, she had crossed the kitchen and held a blossom about a foot in front of him. It was all Danny could do to not run over to the trash bin and puke.

"Uh, well, I think they're blood blossoms." The words were out of Danny's mouth before he realized Fenton wouldn't know that. In his mom's eyes, at least.

"Huh. Curious." Maddie took the flower back and pulled the bunch lying on the counter into a bouquet.

"Mom?" Danny's voice faltered as he forced himself to take a step closer, to make it seem like his core wasn't wanting to burst into flame.

"Hmm?" Maddie was preoccupied, grabbing a pair of scissors to cut a bit of the flowers' stems before they were placed in a vase. Danny had to think for a moment at what he should say.  
"Danny, think you could hold these for me so I can cut them all together so they aren't all crazy different lengths?" Despite her demeanor, Danny felt a strike of fear infect his chest.

"Mom, you have to get rid of those. I'm, uh. Allergic. Yeah." He weakly faked a cough. He knew it wasn't believable, but he couldn't stand to be anywhere near the flowers anymore. The pain was spreading from the small stone next to his heart. His lungs throbbed and his stomach was a blazing inferno of aches and pains. It felt like his insides were trying to tear each other apart. Danny was rubbing his chest raw and it was all he could do to keep his composure. Almost glowing blue tears clouded the edges of his vision.

"Are you sure?"

"YES! GET RID OF THEM!" Danny's legs gave out and he fell to his knees. His arm moved from his chest and gripped his stomach. He felt the fury of ghost sense roll over his spine. The blazing firenado ravaging him increased tenfold as the usually innocent chill occurred.

"Danny! Hey, are you ok?" Maddie's hand was on his shoulder. It burned.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! GET RID OF THE FLOWERS!" A ghostly echo found it's way into Danny's voice. Then his core acted out. The cold, blinding rings were a shock to Danny's system. He felt relief for a single moment and knew he couldn't stand it anymore when it ended. The pressure instantly lifted from his shoulder. He screwed his eyes shut in a feeble attempt to shut out some of the pain. Then all of his muscles, ghostly or not, gave out. He fell to his side and a loud thud burst into his ears as his head hit the tile. He barely managed to open his eyes and his vision was a swirl of red and now-green tears that picked at the edges of what he could see. Everything was distorted.  
"Please, j-just get rid of th-them, Mom," He managed to get out. But his voice was warbling so much he would bet that not a word of what he said was understandable. Then Danny couldn't think straight. His head was clouded. Mercifully, he felt himself fade to something like sleep and blackness won out over the red and black.


	2. Chapter 2

Maddie stared dumbly down at the form of the ghostly teenager passed out on her kitchen floor. What made the situation even worse was that it was lying in the spot her son had occupied only moments ago. The scientist's mind raced to form a possible conclusion, which was sure to give her a headache further down the line. The purple-stemmed flowers dropped out of her lack grasp onto the tile.

The sudden ringing of the doorbell almost made Maddie leap out of her skin. Blood rushed to her ears as she acted on instinct, going to open the door. She picked her way over the prone body towards the living room. Her mind continued to run in circles. But then the pieces snapped together as she stared into the smug face of none other than Vlad Masters.

"Maddie, how are..." She couldn't help but tune him out. The pieces formed a perfect puzzle. Her son was overshadowed. All she had to do was shoo Vlad off, then she could deal with the ghost. It wouldn't know what hit it. Suddenly a hand was being waved in front of her face. Vlad was saying something and looking at her with an expression of concern. The world snapped back into focus and sound returned to Maddie's ears.

"-you alright?" His forehead was creased, making wrinkles along his otherwise youthful-looking skin. How was he still so young? Nowadays Maddie flinched whenever she looked in the mirror and saw the bags under her eyes. For the most part, they were caused by having to wait up for Danny to get home. The thought of her little boy almost sent Maddie spiralling into an anxiety attack, and in her state, the huntress didn't think to keep up any pleasantries with Vlad. He was only in the way. After all, she had a putrid piece of ectoplasm to deal with.

"What do you want?" Maddie snapped irritably, narrowing her gaze. Vlad recoiled a fraction, seeming shocked by her curtness. She did usually try to at least be hospitable when he came around, so it made sense.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing." Vlad smiled and attempted to open the door. Maddie shoved her shoulder into it, plastering a smile on her face to get him to go away.

"Well, I'm doing fine. You. Can. Leave." She said through gritted teeth. The encounter turned into a grudge match over the door, one trying to close it while the other pushed with only a fraction of his might to open it. Vlad shoved the door open with a bust of strength and Maddie stumbled, almost tripping over her own feet. Vlad's hand shot out and grabbed her own, keeping the mother from falling to the carpet.

"Seriously, Maddie dear. What's the matter?" His face was nothing if not concerned. He yanked Maddie back to her feet and pulled her close, hands roaming south. A look of utter disgust painted her features and Maddie pushed him off.

"You creep!" She exclaimed, face going red and a lecture being formed in her head, ghost forgotten.

"How dare you come into my home and try to flirt with me while my husband, your friend, isn't home!" She exclaimed, finger rising to point at the millionaire accusingly. Her eyes were flaming when they met Vlad's, but then she saw where his gaze was aimed. Maddie's old friend was staring right past her, gaze locked onto the ghost lying prone in the doorway to the kitchen. Vlad looked like he was about to say something, but instead sidestepped past Maddie and approached the spectre.

"What happened?" Vlad asked, his tone holding triumph, yet was also concerned. What could that mean?

Maddie's heartbeat in her ears in her fervour. She had to get rid of the ghost.

"It was overshadowing Danny." She spat, looking down at the oddly familiar face.

"No, he wasn't." Vlad smiled a smile that Maddie had never seen before. How had she managed to miss his fang-like teeth? He smiled at her all the time.

"Go away, Vlad." Maddie kneeled beside it, hands moving to shove Vlad away. She was a bit ticked that Vlad had called it a 'he.' Didn't her old friend remember that ghosts were subhuman? That they were only impressions of those long past? Didn't he remember that they were unable to feel? Really, it was that last trait which forced Maddie to call Phantom an it. Animals were only called he and she because they were living beings. Ghosts didn't deserve that.

"What're you gonna do to him?" Vlad asked, head cocked to the side as he peered down at the ghost. His hands reached out to turn it over, but suddenly the millionaire recoiled. The ghost shivered and a blue-misted gasp came from its mouth. Maddie tensed, thinking it was waking up. But no, it settled back down and Maddie pulled her hand from where she had reached for her ecto-gun holster.

"What was that?" Maddie asked curiously, lavender eyes piercing as she bored into Vlad's gaze. His eyes were just as sharp, and he didn't seem to blink. But Maddie saw his gaze falter after a moment, and those cerulean eyes she had once been so lost in turned back to the emotionless husk laying on Maddie's kitchen tile. He knew something.

Vlad bit his lip, and for once Maddie saw a weakness in him. A weakness that could be extorted.

"Why were you burned?" Maddie asked. She could see a small singe on Vlad's hand from where he'd touched the ghost's shoulder, a spot where -on her faux-son- her own hand had laid minutes ago. Worry rose up again, where was he? Was he hurt? Why her son?

"Ah, just an allergy to ectoplasm." Vlad seemed awkward, like he was lying. Like the time he had tried to explain away wearing sunglasses to class that one time. But what reason did he have to lie? Did he know the ghost or something? Could you even know a ghost? He was starting to lose her trust.

"You seemed fine back in college." Maddie's gaze turned back to the ghost, watching for any sign of this taking long enough for it to wake. It was still, but she knew it would rouse soon. Or at least it could wake and she wanted to be prepared. It would pay for hurting her child.

The huntress just needed to get Vlad gone.

"You need to leave. If you really are allergic, " She narrowed her eyes at him. She grabbed the ghost's hand and started to drag it towards the staircase. Its muscles twitched oddly- if it even had muscles, that it- but the huntress pushed that aside. It didn't matter now. She thought she heard Vlad say something, but he must not have.

"I can't leave- what are you going to do to him?" Vlad stood and started walking after her. He kept a bit of distance, though, and he watched that he didn't step on the ghost.

Maddie dropped it's hand and went to open the lab door. She'd have to put the ghost in the containment unit and go get things ready. The ghost would make an amazing test subject, particularly for new weapons. But she'd have to find out what was going on with it and her son first. It wasn't likely that he was overshadowing Danny- perhaps it was a shapeshifter? She'd seen a ghost like that cause trouble a few months ago. It'd escaped, though.

"I'm going to find out what it did with Danny." Maddie huffed as she attempted to pick the ghost up. She normally would've just dragged it down the steps, though if he was somehow overshadowing Danny still she didn't want to hurt him. The Phantom and Danny had very similar builds, perhaps it was somehow showing itself over his appearance? There would be tests, that was for sure.

"I'm sure Daniel's fine." The unease in Vlad's voice had gone away by now. But his tone was too honey-coated to be real. Why did he keep lying to her?

Maddie dropped the creature into the large glass box and locked the door before turning to face Vlad.

"You know something. So why don't you just cut the crap and tell me what it is?" She stood strong, setting her stance with her hands on her wide hips. Vlad backstepped at her accusation, but didn't cower and instead cleared his throat.

Vlad wasn't quite sure what to tell her. His gaze again darted over to Daniel. The boy's forehead was coated in a layer of sweat, and he was shaking slightly.

He hadn't thought that his prank would go so far.

The flowers were only meant to scare Daniel, rough him up a bit. But it seemed that he had touched them at some point while Maddie was watching and lost control, transforming. Part of him wanted to tell Maddie about Daniel's being a halfa, but the loathing in her eyes when even looking at his ghost form warned him otherwise. She wouldn't believe him, probably assuming that he was overshadowed like she thought had happened to Daniel. Vlad was all too aware of the various weapons around the room and on Maddie's person. Even if she didn't believe him, she would be immensely guilty. Despite how small of a chance that would be. And the only piece of proof he had would be to show her his own transformation, and… Maddie didn't have a very good relationship with his Plasmius side.

Though there might be another way, though it'd still reveal Daniel's secret.

On the billionaire's phone were plenty of videos of Daniel's transformations, from when he'd studied the boy to attempt at cloning him. Vlad realised a little while ago how out of line that was. He'd decided to roll it back, shift into pranks and the such instead of… that. He still felt guilty. There was a lost girl out there somewhere who he'd created, and just the thought of her made him about half sick… not to mention that he had kidnapped a teenager. Perhaps saving him from his mother, now, would ease a bit of the guilt. Even if he destroyed any uneasy trust the boy might've had for him. Daniel was but a child, and this was an adult decision. It was only through the circumstances that the responsibility fell upon Vlad's shoulders.

Vlad held up a finger to his old friend and reached into the inner pocket of his coat for his cell phone.

"I do have something to tell you. You won't believe me, no doubt, but it's worth a try.

"If you're going to tell me something, why are you getting out your phone?" She asked suspiciously. She was so hard-headed sometimes.

"Proof." The halfa stated matter-of-factly and typed a search on his phone. He didn't want to say anything aloud for fear that Maddie would hear something he wasn't quite ready to say.

A video of Danny's transformation appeared and Vlad sucked in a breath. It was now or never.

 **AN:**

 **I've had this sitting around on my computer for a while, so I hope you like the chapter! I have no idea when, but eventually, I'll upload part three.**


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